The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Verbena plant, botanically known as Verbena hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘AKIV5-4’.
The new Verbena plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Shiga, Japan and Bonsall, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to create new semi-upright Verbena cultivars with attractive flowers and resistance to Powdery Mildew.
The new Verbena plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor on Apr. 5, 2005 in Shiga, Japan of a proprietary selection of Verbena hybrida identified as code number VJ05-13-1, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Verbena hybrida identified as code number 04V73-01, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Verbena plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Bonsall, Calif. on Jun. 30, 2006.
Asexual reproduction of the new Verbena plant by terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in Bonsall, Calif. since Jul. 3, 2006 has shown that the unique features of this new Verbena plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.